TTC HAS UNION UP IN ARMS

Controversial Drug-Testing Proposal Has Union Warning The Plan Could
Prompt Strike

Testing TTC employees for alcohol and drugs could give riders a bad
trip.

TTC union officials warned yesterday such testing could prompt a
wildcat strike.

Gary Webster, the transit authority's general manager, announced the
controversial proposal for testing some "safety sensitive" employees,
including drivers, yesterday in the wake of a recent report that
showed a TTC worker killed in a maintenance accident last year had
smoked marijuana during his shift.

The plan, if approved by transit commissioners next week, would test
individuals applying for any "safety sensitive" position, as well as
testing employees involved in any serious accident.

The policy would mandate testing any employee believed to be impaired,
as well as those who had returned to work following an alcohol or drug
rehabilitation program.

As is, the proposed plan also calls for random testing of some
employees, although TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone, a city councillor,
said random tests likely won't make the final grade because they are
"too invasive."

"Our job at the commission is to balance the rights of our employees
against protecting the public and the security of the riding public
and we are looking for solutions that deal with the problem," he said,
noting the situation of impaired TTC workers is not at a "crisis" level.

'Isn't The Case'

"We'll continue to review random testing, but I think at this point,
there just isn't the case for random testing," he added.

But Webster and the TTC's report maintains saliva and urine tests --
including random ones -- for some type of employees including drivers,
supervisors, and some maintenance employees is necessary for deterring
people from showing up to work intoxicated.

It is not meant as a punitive measure, he said.

"This is not a 'gotcha' policy," Webster insisted, noting he, too,
would be subjected to all the testing measures. "It's meant to be a
policy that will reduce the risk that we currently have."

According to the TTC, there have been 39 incidents of employees
impaired on the job reported in the last 2.5 years, a rate Webster
said is "very low," but has "very high" consequences. Four drivers
have been caught intoxicated on the job since January 2008.

"The policies we have in place are not effective enough ... to protect
the public to the degree that they need to be," Webster said. "We need
the assistance of investigative tools like drug and alcohol testing to
be able to say that we have done everything that is reasonable to
address the problem."

But even if the commission sanctions the testing policy, with or
without random checks, workers likely won't sign on willingly.

Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union local that
represents 9,000 TTC drivers and maintenance workers, said yesterday
any testing of his members would not be tolerated.

He said the union would fight any new such policy by "any means
necessary."

'Incompetence'

"We are dead set against any testing of any of our members. We believe
that the TTC, once again, is trying to ... deflect attention away from
their incompetence," he said, noting they will, "take a look at each
and every one of (their) options."

"We will do whatever is necessary to protect the freedoms and rights
of our members."

If and when the TTC's "Fitness for Duty" is approved by the
commission, it will likely be in full effect a year from now.

Mayor David Miller said he supports using drug and alcohol tests to
ensure the public's safety, which "absolutely has to come first," but
he cautioned against the use of random tests.